H5N1 strain confirmed in Indian outbreak
July 26th, 2007
A declaration from India’s Joint Secretary in the Ministry of health on Thursday confirmed that the most recent outbreak of bird flu in poultry farm from a northeastern province of the country was due to the most dangerous strain of the disease, H5N1. Health workers have already been dispatched in the state of Manipur to assess the condition of about 450,000 people in the area of the poultry farm where the virus was discovered. As of yet, there have been no reported cases of farm workers or veterinary personnel presenting flu like symptoms.
Two government laboratories separately confirmed the presence of the H5N1 avian influenza virus. This comes after India declared itself as a bird flu free country almost a year ago. Two important outbreaks of the disease had previously let to the culling of around a million birds.